Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Crossroads to Chaos
by hambor12
Summary: The PMD world is always on the brink of some sort of world-ending cataclysm. The Crossroads Guild makes it somewhat less-so. A story about a Shiny Riolu who can't even make a Force Palm, a mysterious Gardevoir(?), and how a chance meeting makes the former involved with the organization led by the latter.
1. It's Always A Beach, Isn't It

**cw: suicide**

 **I don't own the Pokemon franchise or the Mystery Dungeon franchise.**

 **Please enjoy, and feel free to review.**

* * *

 _ **Useless child.**_

" _Born without Aura?" asks a masculine, fatherly voice. "That's frankly impossible, Nurse Audino. Even so, they'll awaken eventually, right?"_

 _ **Failure of a warrior.**_

" _Your daughter is smart, Lucario, but her strength levels… leave much to be desired. I'm sorry."_

 _ **Disappointment of a daughter.**_

" _How DARE you pull this shit!? I've worked tirelessly year after year to train you to live up to your destiny, and now you try to kill yourself? I can't believe you."_

 _ **A shame upon**_ _**the great Lucario legacy.**_

" _I don't know how this is possible… the Golden Lucario, yet she can't even summon a simple Force Palm. I don't how you'd be able to survive anywhere with how lazy you are."_

Jackie stood at the edge of the precipice overlooking Seaside Cove. The gentle sea breeze blew across the serene landscape, and the sound of waves hammered on in the distance. As the sun set in the distance, the young Shiny Riolu felt at ease for the first time in many years.

At the very least, her final memories would be beautiful.

Closing her eyes, she smiled.

And then she jumped.

* * *

…

…

…

"N-no…"

Jackie was only able to let out a whimper, her body damaged but her heart still beating.

She would've cried, but pain wracked through her bones with each attempt at movement. The only thing that didn't hurt was the movement of her neck.

Despite her pain, she was able to make out her surroundings. Indeed, she was on the beach that laid at the foot of the same cliff she had jumped off of.

She wasn't alone.

A few meters away from where Jackie lay, was someone else, seemingly unfortunate enough to remain unconscious.

Or dead.

As the Riolu attempted to pick herself up, she wondered if they too were on the beach for the same reason as her, only more successful in their deeds than she ever could. A grimace formed on her face as she realized her own failed suicide attempt would be yet another display of her weakness.

Powering through the pain in her bones, Jackie was able to stand and walk, albeit barely, and made her way to the other 'mon on the beach.

Said 'mon appeared to be a large Skiddo with strange black markings on their face. Despite her weakened Aura sensors, she felt a strange energy radiating off the goat. Dark, murderous energy.

And he wasn't alone. Behind the Skiddo's frame lay two other Pokemon, an Audino and a Meditite, both unconscious. Like the Skiddo, their Auras were askew enough to even be noticed by someone like her. The Meditite had the energy of two Pokemon, while the Audino's Aura was… indescribable.

Jackie had only heard stories, but she had a feeling she knew what these Pokemon were.

 _Humans_.

She knew how this story went. It was part of her family's lore, how Grandpa Lucario met Grandma Delcatty in the same way, a human on the beach destined to save the world. Or the human who saved the Mist Continent, or the human who saved the Air Continent, and so on and so forth.

Humans were not of this world. Destiny and heroism were thrust upon them, and all that helped them only saw their lives improve from the good they brought society.

She knew she should've been happy. By all means, destiny seemed to have smiled at her for the first time. The opportunity to become a hero. To be someone that her family would love. The chance to prove herself worthy of the golden fur on her back, to be as great as Grandpa Lucario, or the great Lucario of Pokemon Square.

But as she finally pulled the three "humans" away from the tide, the Riolu could feel nothing but doubt. Just hours ago, she was trying to kill herself to escape the destiny given to her at birth. What would prevent her from simply trying to escape this new destiny?

Even then, she would be useless. Nothing more than dead weight while these three humans, who even while unconscious radiated more power than she could ever hope to dream of in her waking hours. She already brought down her noble family. To drive down such potential world savers would be even worse than simply making her parents ashamed. Hell, the world would suffer simply because of her actions.

Curling up to a nearby log, she slumped up against it, and stopped trying to stem the inevitable flow of tears welling up in her eyes.

"I can't do anything right…"

Her sobs rang out in the night.

* * *

A few ways down the beach, two figures materialized in a flash of glittery multicolored pixels. The tall figure was a pink Gardevoir, her gown split down the middle like a lab coat and her eyes obscured by round spectacles. The normal bob of her species was in the shape of a short bun, or at least the closest facsimile a Gardevoir could get. The shorter, quadruped figure was a Zorua, his hair tuft tinted in a garish bright pink and an equally garish bandana around his neck.

Subtlety was not in their playbook, but then again, it was about three in the morning. Presumably, nobody would be there to actually _see_ them.

The Gardevoir landed gently, the lightness of her form barely even stirring up the soft powdery sand at her feet. Meanwhile, the Zorua landed much more awkwardly, the small flurry of upturned sand causing a bit of a stir in the once quiet night.

"We need to work on your Teleport etiquette, Moonwalker," said the Gardevoir, absentmindedly brushing off dust off her shoulder.

The Zorua frantically brushed dirt off his muzzle. "I feel like you did that one on purpose, Pen."

" _Madame Director_ , Moonwalker. Codenames and abbreviations while on duty," retorted the Gardevoir. "Besides. Feels cooler."

"Right… Why are we by Sa— I mean GW's place again? I thought he and FS were off to take care of the baby," asked Moonwalker.

"We're not paying them a visit, MW. We're here for another reason, remember?"

The Gardevoir motioned to the rest of the beach.

"Humans?" said Moonwalker.

"Well, fallers. They aren't all human, remember. Something about beaches just _loves_ pulling up weirdness. Don't know why, but that makes it easier for us." Pen noticed the worried expression on her assistant's face. "Don't look at me like that, that's how we got you in the first place."

Moonwalker wasn't exactly relaxed by that, but his complaints went ignored.

"Strange."

Pen's simple response was rather jarring, but Moonwalker could see why. Having reached their destination, their targets were missing. There wasn't even a mark in the sand where their bodies would have been, which Pen rationalized as high tide washing it away."

After a bit of uncomfortably silent pondering, Pen spoke up.

"Well, whoever took away the fallers, then they probably did it to save them from drowning. However, witnesses are… troubling."

Moonwalker shuddered at the implication. "Do we have to kill them?"

The response from his employer was not the one he had been hoping for. In a similar burst of glittery light, a metallic black L-shape materialized in the Gardevoir's right hand. Even knowing what a handgun was from his past life as a human, the weapon still looked alien and unnatural in the hands of a Pokemon.

 _*Click*_

"Maybe," came the answer, and the two continued on. Moonwalker knew better than to question Pen's eccentricities, primarily out of self-preservation.

It didn't take long for Pen to find the fallers, her Psychic powers making the whole matter trivial. Just a few meters off, their targets lay unharmed and away from the water. Nearby, a young Riolu with golden fur was slumped against a tree, fast asleep. Pen paid the Riolu no mind, but Moonwalker noticed how disheveled and injured she was, how her face looked like she had been crying for the longest time.

"Moonwalker," snapped Pen. "Fit our guests with Escape Beacons. If the girl wakes up, _I_ will handle it."

As ordered, Moonwalker attached a small metal bracelet to the Meditite, Skiddo, and Audino. None of them seemed to be stirred by the turn of events.

"They're on."

"Alright. Initiating 'Stealthy Recovery'." replied Pen, wordlessly sending a psychic message back to base. In her peripheral vision, she noted her protégé's wary expression.

"Uh, Pen?" He caught himself. "I mean, Madame Director?"

"What is it, Moonwalker?" replied Pen, slightly annoyed.

"We called it 'Stealthy Recovery' as a joke, remember?"

The bracelets then proceeded to glow, before dematerializing their wearers into tiny multi-colored cubes of data. With each pixel was a tinny, electronic sound reminiscent of bells. It also happened to do this for every single bit of data. Naturally, this cacophony of beeps and bloops was enough to stir awake the Riolu.

"Wh-What are you doing?!" cried the Shiny Riolu, her breath accelerating from the calm of rest to shallow hyperventilation. Pen seemed puzzled by this reaction, though Moonwalker thought if he also saw someone dematerialize someone without knowing that it was (probably) harmless, he would be rightly freaked out.

"MW, _leave this to me_ ," Pen muttered to Moonwalker before turning to the Riolu.

"What brings you here to this secluded beach at—" She made a motion as if to stare at her wrist. " —Three in the morning with these other Pokemon, hmm?"

"N-None of your business… W-w-what are you doing to them?" whimpered the Riolu, weakly pointing a finger at the disappearing "humans".

The Gardevoir was unsettling cheerful for the situation. "Oh, that? They're going to be fine. Moonwalker, tell the girl they're going to be fine."

"They'll be fine," Moonwalker replied, as if on cue. " _Probably,_ " he said in a quiet, almost internal voice.

The Riolu remained uneasy, but the pink Gardevoir continued on.

"Now, you're not supposed to see this. Most people aren't. The line of work me and that Zorua participate in is absolutely secret, and the fact that you interfere with our mission, albeit through an assumedly noble intent, means that I have to make a choice."

The Riolu gulped, knowing what was going to happen.

"Y-you're going to kill me…"

"Not necessarily. All you need to do to determine your fate from now on is this."

She outstretched her left hand to the Riolu.

"Shake my hand."

The girl was rightfully hesitant to do so.

"What will you do to me if I take this offer?"

Pen thought about that for a moment. "I'unno. I either deem you threat that needs to be eliminated, untapped potential, or mediocre background noise that I can trust to keep the status quo." She waved the gun in her right hand. "Pray to whatever impotent Legendary you worship that you fall into the latter two."

The Riolu eyed the offer put out before her. One the one hand, she might be killed.

Then again it was her own suicidal ideations that brought her into this in the first place. Nobody would miss her, not her father, not her family…

Though, at the same time, she shuddered to think what the Gardevoir would do to her if she refused. Whatever the strange object in her hand was, it probably wasn't benevolent in any shape or form.

" _Ahem._ I'm waiting."

Riolu closed her eyes, and grabbed the hand in front of her. When her paw touched the hand, her vision was overtaken by colors, flashing lights that emanated not from the Gardevoir, but from within her own mind.

...

" _Correct answer._ "

And with a flash, they both disappeared without a trace, the beach once again left silent except for the rollicking waves on the shore.

* * *

 **~* Character Logs *~**

 **Jackie** \- A Shiny Riolu. Supposedly destined for greatness at birth, her stunted Aura sensitivity has shattered those dreams.

 **Pen/"Madame Director"** \- A bizarre, pink Gardevoir with mysterious intent and shaky alignment. It's best not to test her.

" **Moonwalker"** \- A (debatably) fashionable Zorua and the hapless assistant/protege of Pen. Tries to be the voice of reason. He's not trying hard enough, it seems.

 **A?** \- A Skiddo with a dark, murderous aura. Those markings don't look natural...

 **C?** \- A Meditite who seemingly has two distinct aura signatures inhabiting her body.

 **S?** \- An Audino with a seemingly paranatural aura, one that would be more at home on an Elgyem.


	2. Rude Awakening

**I don't own Pokemon**. If I did, Game Freak would stop doing that thing where they add a beloved feature for like one generation and then never do it again. (PWT, walking Pokemon, etc.)

* * *

 _Jackie wasn't born Jackie._

 _The memories are long since past, almost faded after years of emotional torment, but they're there._

 _Aurelia._

 _Aurelia is the name on her birth certificate._

 _Her father said it was because it was a play on 'Aura'. After all, they weren't called the Aura Pokemon for their fighting prowess alone. Even disregarding the hesitant warnings of Nurse Audino in the maternity ward, Jackie's father still had some hope that maybe someday, that supposed Golden Lucario powers would manifest._

" _Late bloomer," he said to himself, silently. The flower remains a closed bud._

 _Jackie's mother had another idea of the name. She read once of a language long dead, but its remnants still hanging on in the speech of modern times._

 _Aurum._

 _Gold, in archaic terms._

 _Even her name was a constant reminder of what she was, and most damningly, what she wasn't. Jackie would look at the family history, of the ancestors that were like her._

 _Golden._

 _A Golden Lucario who could quell a tsunami with only a Force Palm._

 _A Golden Lucario whose steps made the earth rumble at their feet._

 _A Golden Lucario who could see into the future, and shape time itself._

 _A Golden Lucario._

 _Golden._

 _Gold._

 _Too._

 _Much._

 _Gold._

 _That's why she gave herself a new name, a new name with no connotations or lofty ideals attached to it. At the very least, she could have this one thing, a name for herself._

 _At the very least, she could have control over her life…_

* * *

Jackie's eyes fluttered open lightly as she came awake. Strangely, she didn't feel groggy or cranky at all...

She couldn't remember the last time she had a good night's sleep.

Coming to her full senses, and still at awe at how refreshed she was, she was able to figure out at least one thing. Based on how comfortable and ventilated the room was, she knew she wasn't back at home, in the stuffy basement room her family generally shut her up in. No, whatever this place was, it was certainly more generous to the Riolu than the Aura Dojo would ever be.

"Oh! You're awake!" cried a boyish voice near Jackie's bed. Startled, she turned her head and locked eyes with the Zorua from before. His voice still wavered with a slight lack of confidence, but compared to earlier it was certainly upbeat.

That didn't really matter to Jackie, because the last time she saw the fox, he'd been helping the extremely intimidating Gardevoir from before kidnap several "humans." In all fairness, given his general quirk of perceptiveness, he should've seen the next turn of events beforehand.

Jackie's heart seized up, and in self-defense, she threw a punch towards Glitch's face. The Zorua raised a paw in a feeble attempt to catch/defend, but he managed to drastically underestimate how _strong_ the Riolu was, even without Aura. What ensued could be summarized as Jackie punching Glitch's own paw into his face, knocking him back onto a desk. The same paw was now clutched over his black snout, which appeared to be… bleeding?

Realizing what she had done, Jackie once again panicked, not out of fear, but out of anxiety.

" _Oh gods, what have I done!? What if he's like me? What if he's not doing this willingly? Was he trying to help me escape?"_

Soon, the panicked thoughts evolved and tears welled up in her eyes.

" _I… I'm useless, awful, terrible. He was probably the only person who would've been nice to me and now I've hurt him… He must hate me..._ "

A somewhat muffled voice piped up from the side of the room, attempting to pierce through Jackie's weeping.

"I-I'm alright," said Glitch, his paw still holding his snout to stem the flow of his nosebleed. "I guess I'm the one who should apologize… y'know, with the kidnapping 'n all…"

Jackie was still crying. Glitch didn't really know how to respond to this. Most of the other recruits Pen forced him to "greet" mostly met him with the same general confusion of a lost child and/or an amnesiac.

The Zorua, scrambling for the right answer to the awkward situation of a teary-eyed stranger, took a shot in the dark.

Said shot in the dark was a hug. Granted, an extremely awkward hug that buried the Riolu's face in his chest fluff, but a hug nonetheless. To his surprise, Jackie's tears began to slow, if not from being calmed by the hug or by how out of left field the gesture was. They sort of remained there until Jackie spoke up.

"Uh… y-you're getting blood on me…" Jackie admitted sheepishly.

"AGH! I, er, we should go to the infirmary, then!" replied Glitch. Grabbing Jackie's arm (in the calmest and easiest way he could manage, he dragged himself and the Riolu off the bed, and the two made their way outside the room.

" _Off to a great start…_ " they both thought internally

* * *

. The hallways were sparsely decorated, but at the very least they were decorated. Jackie, despite having lived in a basement for most of her life, could tell the building that the Gardevoir had spirited her away to was rather nice in some respect. Also, signs. Signs were very helpful, especially as what Jackie assumed to be a simple 2-minute walk to the infirmary or perhaps a shower evolved into a long, ten minute walk.

"S-Sorry… Pen says I don't have independent Teleport clearance yet," he admitted, his paw tousling his headfur sheepishly. "Also, the name's Glitch. Sorry I didn't get it to you earlier, with all the face punching and what not.

"Is Pen the Gardevoir who…"

"Yes."

Jackie decided it was best not to press on that particular rabbit hole right now.

"Jackie."

"Hmm?"

"My name's Jackie," said the Riolu. She sighed. "I'm… sorry."

"Oh. N-no harm done… happens all the time, honestly." (Note: getting decked in the face did not, in fact, happen all the time.)

"There we are!" exclaime Glitch. The two small canines, following the handily marked cross signs on the walls, had reached the infirmary of the building. At the moment, it was empty, which Jackie felt was a good sign, at least in her mind. Simple beds and storage containers were the few bits of furniture that lined the room, though Jackie did notice a rather ornate coffin in one corner of the room.

Her observations of the room were cut short by a strange, foreign fuzziness floating across the Riolu's fur. Controlling her movements so as not to repeat another face punch, Jackie swiftly turned and was faced with the small figure of a Skitty.

"Hiya!" said the Skitty, flashing a gleaming white grin of childlike wonderment. The cat wore a hood, though it was more like a black paisley headscarf with ear holes. The childish voice continued on, though its gaze (or whatever the seemingly closed/squinted equivalent to a gaze) remained fixed on the Riolu. "Interesting specimen we have here, Glitch. Shiny, and a possible Aura user as well!"

Jackie frowned at the mention of Aura, almost instinctively.

"M-Maisha, please! Sh-She's new here, don't scare her like that!" said the Zorua. By now the nosebleed had stemmed, though the blood on his fur did little to make him seem like the calm one.

The Skitty, whose name appeared to be Maisha according to Glitch, continued to size up Jackie as if she were both a piece of meat and a carved statue of marble. It was very weird. "I'm just looking! Besides, as chief medical officer of the Guild, I have to know the anatomy of our members in the first place. Bonus points if I actually enjoy anatomy." She turned to the Zorua and stuck out her tongue.

"Can you at least help —"

" _Cat's Paw: Water Pledge!"_

Glitch was cut off by a sudden torrent of water splashing his face, which at the very least had the fortunate side effect of removing the blood off his fur.

Maisha giggled, her tail slightly dripping from the water it had just hosed out. "Assist works wonders when you know what you're doing, Glitch." She lifted a stubby paw up to her ear and pulled out a small, patterned bandage that she quickly slapped onto Glitch's nose. "Try not to hurt yourself next time."

The cat turned back to the Riolu, ignoring the Zorua's complaints at being hosed on a whim. "I hope he didn't give you a hard time, miss…"

"Jackie."

"Right. Glitch is, truthfully, a bit of a dork. I'm surprised he hasn't died yet." Maisha leaned in closer to whisper. "Secretly, I've always wanted to study what part of the Zorua body generates illusions…"

"I'm right here, Maisha..." said Glitch, spitting out water from his mouth. Maisha ignored him.

Jackie nodded along, trying to not to seem creeped out by the very morbid Skitty. The kitten continued on.

"Anyways, he was supposed to bring you to someone else, but I guess you really, er, sidetracked him."

Jackie dared to ask. "Was… he supposed to bring me to Pen?" she asked cautiously.

"Pfft. Gosh, no," replied Maisha. "She's probably doing something stupid with her chessboard again or singing those weird songs that only humans know."

The Riolu let out a sigh of relief. "That's somewhat assuring. But who was Glitch trying to take me to?"

"Probably one of the deputies. Like for instance, Mister Rick." Maisha jerked her adorably large head to the side, motioning towards the other exit of the infirmary. "Incidentally, he's over there, like, right now."

"What?"

At that moment, a door on the other side of the room swung open, which seemed unnecessary and also impossible as even Jackie could tell it was clearly a sliding door. The dust cleared, revealing a lanky, somewhat musty-smelling Beheeyem. In particular, the smell of alcohol seemed familiar to the Riolu, despite her father never being the drinking type...

Seaside Village sake?

"Glitch, *urp*..." the alien stammered woozily, strange green liquid staining the general mouth (?) area of his face. "You-you gotta stop being such a friggin' klutz, dammit."

The Zorua sort of froze up, not in the fear that he had in regards to the Gardevoir, but more of a meek embarrassment. The alien locked eyes with Jackie.

"Oh hey, it's the suicidal girl Pen took a liking too. She told me to take over for my loser of a mentee," said the Beheeyem, his drunken voice dripping metaphorically with all the eloquence of a brick and literally with that same concoction that Jackie presumed was saliva and booze. "Unlike Glitch, I _actually_ have Teleport clearance."

He motioned in the general direction of Glitch and Maisha. "Maisha, prep the m-medbay for later. Glitch, sit fucking still until I grab you later. Orientation for the Athena Initiaive is upon us."

Before Jackie could even figure out what was going on, or even object, the Beheeyem caught her in a Kinesis grip before snapping his finger-lights together, and without flair or flourish, Jackie and Rick vanished.

* * *

 **~* Character Logs *~**

 **Jackie** \- A Riolu who is not the most mentally stable Pokemon at the moment. Our dear protagonist, she'd been kidnapped and taken to a mysterious facility for… reasons.

 **Glitch** \- The Zorua assistant of the kidnapper who seems to be in the same boat as Jackie. Kind of a dweeb, but means well. Wishes he could be taken more seriously.

 **Pen** \- Dame Not-Appearing-In-This-Chapter. The leader of the Guild who "appropriated" Jackie from her hometown, for good or for bad. Strange lady.

 **Maisha** \- The morbid Skitty medical officer for the Guild. Very interested in discerning the anatomy of her patients, in a purely medical sense. Still creepy.

 **Rick** \- A very drunk Beheeyem. Is a deputy of Pen in some capacity, as well asw Glitch's teacher in a different context than Pen.

 **Next Chapter** : Apathetic alien shows Jackie the people she saved earlier, now awake this time. Also, some other Pokemon Pen may have kidnapped. Establishing supporting cast GO!


	3. Friendly Faces

**I don't own Pokemon. Any resemblance to other non-Pokemon characters, living or dead, may or may not be intentional** _ **.**_ **I ain't spoiling my own story, however.**

 **Please review. It means a lot to me.**

 **cw: suicide (discussed), child abuse (implied)**

 **edit: various typo fixes and added a verbal tic i forgot about**

* * *

Sammy, like most 'mons, enjoyed having at least some semblance of a routine.

Step one: Wake up.

Step two: Kiss beautiful bug wife.

Step three: Wash face and groom glorious Masamune family mustache-beard.

Step four: Cook breakfast for himself, his wife, and his three (now four) loving kids.

Step five: Work on village related business.

Step six: Check with Kecleon on the sake sales.

And so on and so forth.

Also like most 'mons, Sammy disliked having his boss Pen interrupt said routine, especially during what was supposed be vacation time to raise the baby.  
The first time this happened, Pen teleported behind him in the bathroom somewhere during step #3, resulting in a seamitar-related shaving accident that required two days in the infirmary and two months of tireless grooming to realign the symmetry of his beard. He refused to talk to her for the next few weeks out of indignance.  
The current interruption, which according to the little scratch tally he had scraped in a desk drawer was the 12th, happened sometime around step #5, a welcome first for the Gardevoir.

"Great Wave!" said Pen, her face painted with her trademark half-fake, half-unnervingly genuine smile. She had a toothy grin, which was weird because Gardevoir don't have teeth.

Sammy just stared at her, awaiting some sort of continuation, but it seemed that the Gardevoir was expecting _him_ to respond.

"What do you want, Pen?"

"Two things, GW. First, the Athena Initiative."

"I told you, Pen," Sammy sneered, his burgundy eyes seemingly flashing hot pink for a brief second. The Samurott was well-known for his compassion and kindliness, though that did not extend to the Gardevoir that had so often tested his patience. "I'm already endangering my kids enough by having them join the Crossroads Guild in the first place. Right now, I want them to at least have some taste of a normal life. School is part of that."

Pen stared him down.

"I didn't say anything about _your_ children's training, nor did I say anything about a school. I guess your beloved mother's side is showing," she replied with an odd smirk. "I already asked your kids and they were more than happy to help train the new blood. No, Samuel, this is something related to my second topic."

Flicking her wrist upwards, a piece of paper that Sammy had been looking over earlier darted past him into her fingers, barely nicking his cheek. Pen studied the document, a missing persons report depicting a young Riolu resident of Seaside Village before the paper burst into flames in her hand. The ashes of the burnt paper dissipated into thin air.

"Tell the Lucario that lives your village his daughter is dead."

Sammy looked at his boss with incredulity. His fists clenched at the thought of Pen murdering a civilian member of his village, especially a child he considered an honorary daughter like Jackie.

" _WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER_?" boomed the Samurott, his normally spright voice growing into a deep growl of paternal rage. However, he could feel himself being restrained by psychic grips.

"Cool it, Sam. Contrary to your belief, I did not kill Jackie. She is very much alive and is in the X-Base as we speak."

Sammy was at least calmed by that, though he still felt uneasy and most of all, questioning. Composing himself somewhat, he replied. "What happened to her?"

Pen's normal face of smugness and inscrutable fake joy was replaced with a grim mug of neutrality. It took a bit of time for her to reply.

"The Riolu's in a safer place, given what she went through before I found her."

Sammy had never seen Pen so… sober. He also dreaded what the Gardevoir seemed to be implying.

"I'll contact you when she's available, though with the Athena Initiative that may be awhile. I'll at least leave you with something I found at the top of the cliff," she continued. Snapping her fingers, a crumpled piece of paper materialized where the missing persons report had been. "Make of that what you will."

And with a burst of glitter and light, she was gone. The Samurott was still on edge given how dramatically that conversation shifted, and warily he went back to his desk to unravel the document that Pen left for him.

A suicide note, addressed to the Lucario he considered a brother.

Written by Lucario's daughter.

He felt sick.

* * *

The Teleport of the Gardevoir had at least given Jackie some sort of transitional period of bright light in order to ease her mind into its new position. Rick's Teleport, instantaneous as the popping of a sea bubble, left the Riolu woozy as her mind briefly struggled to find its bearings.

Instead of the sterile, primarily empty infirmary just seconds ago she was standing in, Jackie found herself in a modestly more populated break room of sorts. At least ten, possibly less, other Pokemon were socializing and generally doing their own business.

At least, that was what they were doing before they noticed the Beheeyem and his confused passenger. Or when said Beheeyem proceeded to emit some sort of ungodly, high-pitched ringing noise from his mind onto everybody else's.

Certainly one way of getting attention, though Jackie had endured worse.

"Alright, y-you friggin' newbs. This is Jackie. Contrary to what you may think or what she looks like, she's probably the most normal 'mon out of all of you." The alien made a bottle of the ever-familiar Seaside Village sake appear in his hand without even a sound and took a long draw. "Introduce yourselves or-or some shit like that. I'll be back in like three, two hours to take y'all to orientation."

Jackie, who had been floating a few feet off the ground in Kinesis during Rick's whole spiel, promptly fell unceremoniously but harmlessly onto the floor as Rick poofed himself away once more, the room returning to its normal business as if the above events didn't just happen. Rubbing her somewhat aching back, she saw a vine dangle in front her like an outstretched hand. Reluctantly, she grabbed it and was pulled up face-to-face with a familiar Skiddo.

"Howdy!" greeted the Skiddo. "My name's Asriel! Asriel the Skiddo!"

The goat had a chipper and infectious smile, and his greeting seemed to be genuine. Still didn't help that his Aura was still so overwhelmingly dark that even an invalid like her could feel it. Plus, in addition to the black markings, now that his eyes were open Jackie could see his eyes were similarly pitch-black. Jackie quickly withdrew her hand from the Skiddo's vine. Noticing the Riolu's reservation, Asriel looked as if he remembered something before doing… a thing. Clenching his eyes and holding his breath, Jackie felt the goat's Aura of darkness recede. His eyes also turned a still abnormal but much less menacing bright yellow color.

"Sorry, miss. I guess you're not the only one who can feel that too…" Asriel chuckled softly. "What's your name?"

"J-Jackie." This felt like a recurring theme for the day.

"Oh, you must be the girl who saved me a few days ago! Must've been awfully lucky to have been out there so late, right?"

 _Days?_ Jackie thought. _How long was I out?_

"Y-yes… lucky…" Jackie replied. She felt supremely uncomfortable at being reminded of her own failure that day, though she couldn't really fault this seemingly nice goat for pressing that particular button.

"Well, I guess Mr. Rick wants me to introduce you to everybody else. I'm happy to show you around!"

Having not much to lose, Jackie decided to play along with yet another perky guide boy. The Riolu would have liked to shown some assertion, but right now, with her slight headache and crippling self-esteem issues, she didn't really feel like she had a choice in the matter.

Asriel trotted over to a little reading nook on one part of the large break room, and the shiny Riolu followed. There, he waved a loose, buttercup-covered vine in the direction of a few other familiar faces. It was the Audino and Meditite from the beach, the latter exerting all of her strength to levitating and reading multiple books simultaneously, and the former fiddling with what appeared to be an Expedition Gadget nearby.

Upon noticing the Skiddo, the Meditite lost her focus, leading to all the floating books to topple to the floor, and also partially on the Audino's head.

"Watch it!" snapped the Audino, clearly annoyed by being distracted from lazily checking the Gadget's social media functions.

"Ehehe… sorry," said the Meditite sheepishly. Her speech was strange, in that it sounded like two young voices trying to talk over each other simultaneously. "Asriel, is this the Jackie person we've heard so much about?"

"The one and only!"

"Cool!" The Meditite let out an awkward but meaningful grin. "My name's Connie. Pleasure to meet you. Y'know, conscious this time…"

The Audino piped up from the side. "I'm Summer. Thanks, I guess."

Asriel frowned. "Guys, this girl saved our lives! You can do better than that!"

Jackie, ever passive, simply blushed at how kind Asriel was being. At the same time, her heart panged with guilt after realizing her first impression of the kid (pun unintended) was as an evil murderer.

"I guess we would be dead if you didn't find us? I apologize, it's just… being a Pokemon, it's something that I've always dreamed about since I played Mystery Dungeon. Mind you, with all the schoolwork I had to do I didn't get to finish but the world—"

Jackie wanted to speak, but she didn't know where to jump in. Summer's ear feeler twitched, and the Audino motioned to Asriel. Jackie's quick eye could briefly see the telltale flash of hot pink in the rabbit's eyes denoting a psychic message as buttercup-covered vine shot out to shush Connie.

"Connie, I think our new friend wants to say something."

'Erm… uh… I guess I did what I thought was right." Summoning up more courage, she continued. "I guess I heard a lot of stories of this thing happening… and I wanted to help out the humans on the beach. It's no big deal…"

Connie and Summer looked touched, but Jackie felt a slight flare of dark energy from Asriel when she said the word "human". However brief said flare was, Jackie made a mental note not to call Asriel in particular a human.

"Why don't we move on?"

"S-sure…"

Waving goodbye to the two other humans-turned-Pokemon, she followed the Skiddo to another part of the lounge, though these introductions were more concise.

Sitting by a music player sat a Komala wearing dark sunglasses and holding a white cane instead of a log. The koala stared into a wall blankly, the music player not even on.

"Jackie, this is Carol. She says she can read Aura, and Connie said something about Riolus having Aura or something."

Jackie's heart sank once more at the assumption of Aura capability.

"Az, I don't think she _has_ Aura," said the Komala, surprising them both.

Asriel realized his faux pas and deflated. "Oh… My apologies, Jackie, I totally didn't mean to offe—"

"No… It's fine. It's something I've had to live with since I was born. I don't think I'll ever learn to be—" _Useful. Worth the fur on her back_. "S-strong…"

"Don't sweat it, Jack. At least you got eyes. Puts you one step above me." The Komala let out a weak little laugh. "You'll get there. I believe in you, _et cetera, et cetera, et cetera._ "

"T-thanks."

"Just don't ask me to read anything. Because I can't."

The Komala flashed a thumbs-up at the Riolu before going back to her very important business of silently staring down the wall. They continued on.

The only other two creatures in the room happened to be talking nearby. Well, one of them was talking, specifically a small white dog creature with blue flames above their eyes. The other one, a bulky Chesnaught with a strange, face-obscuring helmet, just sort of nodded and made hand gestures that the other read.

"Komasan, Flynn?" said Asriel, politely interrupting their intense talk on the practical applications of fire. "This is Jackie. She's new here."

"Oh my swirls, well boy howdy, Miss Jackie!" said the white dog, his voice sounding like a kindly country boy from the Air Continent. He didn't look like any sort of Pokemon Jackie knew of. "Pleasure to meet y'all, zura. My name's Komasan, and this here's Flynn."

The Chesnaught waved politely but silently.

"I hope ya didn't get lost like me n' mister Flynn. I took one wrong train to Harrisville and somehow ended up way off mah mark, while Flynn says someone gone n' warped him after takin' somethin' of his. Can ya believe it, zura?"

"No… I live here." Jackie paused. "Like on this planet, not like this building."

"I get whatcha mean, miss Jackie. Haven't seen a single gosh-darned Yokai in ages! I take it you met miss Pen already?"

"The Gardevoir?"

"Yup. She dun brought us all based on what I've heard, zura. Don't know why. Flynn?"

Flynn pondered his partner's query, and simply replied with a palm punch. Despite it being a simple gesture, somehow, Jackie felt another aura, similar to Asriel's own dark one. Flynn's however, reeked not of darkness, but of pure, unadulterated violence. Komasan either didn't care or didn't notice.

"I was thinkin' something like that. Though I'm not sure how an energy crisis has to do with it. Well, I hope y'all make yourself at home. Heaven knows how many letters I've tried sending back to mine."

With a wide smile of country hospitality, Komasan bade farewell to the Riolu before returning to his conversation with Flynn, though not before she could catch Komasan let out a weak, sad sigh.

"I miss mah brother, zura..."

"I guess that's everyone then, Jackie," said Asriel. Already, they had made their way back to the center of the room where Rick had dropped her off.

"So what do we do now?" Jackie asked.

Asriel looked at her, then towards Connie & Summer, before replying. "Well, I guess we just wait for Rick. Hey, Jackie…"

"Hmm?"

"Summer could sense a lot from you while we talked. I don't want to sound rude or anything but… do you have anyone you consider a friend?"

Jackie should have felt offended, but at the same time, what Asriel was implying was dishearteningly correct. The Riolu didn't have much of a social life even before her father forced her to focus her life to training, and her already low self-esteem sort of nipped any attempts at making friends during the brief period she _wasn't_ homeschooled. The only Pokemon she sort of considered friends was Agne, the daughter of her father's best friend. Even then, most her of interactions with the Dewott were sparse, and in the back of Jackie's mind,, she was convinced that Agne only gave her the time of day because she was Shiny and because her dad was friends with Agne's father.

"N-not really, no…"

She expected him to laugh at her. However, the Skiddo's response caught her off guard.

"I guess that means I can be your friend, then!"

"What?"

"I mean, you saved my life. I know it's not much to build on, but I feel like it's the least I can do for y'all."

Jackie didn't really know what do, but nonetheless she felt a strange feeling of… happiness. "Thanks… I don't really know what friends do, though." Now Asriel laughed, but not out of mockery.

"Well, I guess we can play a game or something. Connie found an UNO deck inside a desk drawer earlier, and I think I can get her and Summer to join in."

"What's UNO?"

"Oh, man. You are _so_ missing out."

* * *

 **~* Character Logs *~**

 **Jackie** \- A young Shiny Riolu with bad self-esteem issues and weakened Aura tassels since birth. She'd been out for a few days since finding the Fallers on the beach, and so far has taken being kidnapped well.

 **Pen** \- The purposefully obtuse leader of the Crossroads Guild. The pink Gardevoir is a strange case to say the least, and while she revels in being frustrating, seems to have her members' best interests at heart. In her own weird little way.

 **Sammy** \- Beloved Samurott village chief of Seaside Town (home of the best sake in the Water Continent) and high-ranking member of the Crossroads Guild. Is supposed to be on vacation right now.

 **Rick** \- An alcoholic Beheeyem and Pen's trusted deputy. Is the mentor of Glitch, who's not in this chapter, and manages the Athena Initiative, whatever the hell that is.

 **Asriel** \- A partially amnesiac Faller Skiddo with an initially dark aura. He's actually super friendly, and not in the "will absolutely turn out to be a cannibal" sense. Like, actually friendly. Do not call him a human, though.

 **Connie** \- A geeky Faller Meditite who is still getting the hang of being a Pokemon. She's sort of approaching the situation as if it were a game she played once for some reason.

 **Summer** \- A somewhat cold but empathic Faller Audino who is taking the whole "turning into a Pokemon" rather well, all things considered.

 **Carol** \- A blind Komala who is Asriel says can use Aura. We don't know how she got into the same boat as everyone else, but presumably she was found by Pen like everybody else.

 **Komasan** \- A kindly country bumpkin who doesn't seem to be a Pokemon. Claims to be a yokai(?) and to have gotten very, very lost before being found by Pen.

 **Flynn** \- A stoic, presumably mute Chesnaught who obscures his face with a helmet. Speaks in both Pokemon Sign Language as well as assumed context. Has an extremely violent Aura still left unexplained.

 **Lucario** \- Jackie's father, respected member of Seaside village, and best friend of Sammy. Jackie's relationship with him is… strained to say the least.


	4. Change of Plans

_**30 Minutes before the launch of the Athena Initiative**_

" _Black, white, gold or blue_

 _Show off your natural hue_

 _Flamingo, oh oh oh_

 _If you're multicolored, that's cool too."_

Pen always found music in general to be calming. Someone who would've seen themselves as more _sophisticated_ would have chosen something along the lines of a Kricketune string arrangement. However, the Gardevoir had a certain fondness for the pop music of the human world. Certainly Vivaldi and Brahms had their merits, but neither could stir up the swimming poppiness of Kero Kero Bonito.

The song she had randomly chosen felt particularly on the nose, which lent itself to some creative liberties with the lyrics as she sat languidly upon her oaken desk. Around her face, floating screens of psychic data listed maps and reports of her various teams, from the important status on tracked individuals to the minutiae of frequent study.

Jackie Trem-Lucario in particular was an interesting case. At a first glance, Pen had thought nothing of the Riolu. A Shiny coloration was certainly no indicator of power for most species, and most often proved to be a genetic disadvantage due to the assumption of the above. Plus, she was a teenager. Teens often stayed up late to wander alone, she presumed, and the fact that she intervened was some sort of attempt at being a good Samaritan (Good Darmaritan?), albeit a mildly annoying one.

The fact that she noticed her Zorua protege's small increase in heart rate didn't help. A blossoming crush of some kind. The last thing she needed was for Moonwalker to go through another drawn-out breakup. At least he and Water-Strider were now on speaking terms. Regardless, Pen's interest in the Riolu was barely affected by Moonwalker's hormonal crush.

The girl was lost, and even the briefest look through her mind let her know that whatever potential that was there, Aura or no, was being wasted. Indeed, there was potential within the nugget that was Jackie Trem-Lucario. Pen just needed to sift through the dirt to strike it rich. Besides, the Athena Initiative needed some local flavor, a grounded point of reference for her army of fishes out of water. Jackie had the comings of a fine Crossroads Agent… that, and some other things that at the moment were a bit too bitter for the Gardevoir to consider at the moment of rest.

" _You don't need to change_

 _It's boring being the same_

 _Flamingo, oh oh oh_

 _You're pretty either way—"_

" **MD, we've got issues."**

Simultaneously bemused and unamused by the interruption of the second chorus, Pen brought up the Nexus and was greeted by the voice of Abernathy "High Noon", the Cacturne leader of Team Bullitt.

"High Noon. What's the need for the urgency?"

" **Lively Town, double trouble. UB energy spike in the town square, but I'd normally be able to tell if another Faller enters the realm. Something bad is going to happen, very soon."**

"This is… troubling, indeed. Though, why do you say double trouble?" replied Pen.

" **It's… the Dragon's Quill. No officers, but a bunch of thugs are harassing the Expedition Society.** "

"Wait." Pen froze, if only for a split second. "Did… they say anything about why they chose the Expedition Society?" she continued tentatively.

" **Other than being the main defenders of perhaps the most populated city in the planet?"** The sound of ice shattering and a yelling Buneary interrupts her somewhat. " **I didn't hear anything, but Cr— MK did pick up something about there being a VIP being held by the Society."**

"Because I asked them to. Are you at the scene?"

" **Sorry, Pen, but right now we're trapped in a Monster House at the moment, excuse me for a minute..."** The sounds of seed bullets perforating whatever dungeon floor Team Bullitt was in blares from the Nexus. " **...and by the time we get out from wherever it spits us out to Lively Town, either the UB goes live or the Quill gets the VIP.** "

"Fuck me sideways," Pen sighed. "Now's a good a time as any, perhaps… HN, MK, make it out safe. I'll have Water Strider meet you guys up once you resurface. I may have to break out the backup program. Shame, considering all the crap Rick had to go through for what should have been the plan"

" **You mean just throwing the rookies straight in? Wasn't the whole point of the program specifically to** _ **avoid that exact thing**_ **? Also, isn't Water Strider supposed to be part of that?"** Some vulgar language, and more explosions.

Pen rolled her eyes, pointedly ignoring Abernathy's first point. "She and Moonwalker broke up. I'd rather have their… relationship _not_ obstruct the trainees."

" **I'm going to pretend you gave me the answer I wanted and hang up now. Those kids better not be dead, you hear me?"**

The call promptly went silent, leaving Pen alone in her lonely office. With a deep breath in a futile attempt at staying calm, she snapped her fingers, and in a burst of light she was gone.

" _... you're pretty either way._ "

* * *

"Glitch, d'ya see anything in t-there? Any noticeable geometry or pathing errors or anything?"

"The enemies…?" the Zorua replied awkwardly.

"Yes, I know that all the enemy models are Substitutes, it's because it's a fucking placeholder because of the damn graphics chip that we're fixing _right now_ so we can release!"

Glitch squirmed within the stark white VR chamber, once a normally comfy chair "improved" with the addition of wires, haptic feedback sensors, and other intimidating bits of virtual reality gear. "I've been at this for like three hours, Rick..."

"Shut up and bugtest, kid," snapped Rick, knocking back another bottle of Seaside sake as codes and models scrambled through the dozen or so screens around his soon-to-be completed Training Lab. "Your life depends on it."

He was only sort of joking.

This was the Athena Initiative, the Beeheyem's brainchild and vision of the future. All guilds needed new blood, and means to train the new blood. But sending out rookies, oftentimes literal children, out on dangerous missions where they could get hurt or screw up, badly, seemed less than efficient. And the best training often came from Mystery Dungeons, living dungeons of chaos and bullshit that were subject to the whims of some cruel Random Number God as to whether or not one came out with their hides intact. Besides, randomness was a poor measure of success, and simply because a team excelled in one dungeon full of nothing but low-level mooks meant nothing in a dungeon far beyond one's paygrade…

Bad memories stirred within the alien, memories of Beth, but he suppressed them, just as he had for decades now.

Rick decided the solution was a control, a virtual Mystery Dungeon where every variable could be monitored, changed, and rearranged to optimize the training experience. Best of all, nobody had to get hurt, and if there was a need to stop for any reason, all it took was a button press.

It was meant to be perfect.

Unfortunately, no piece of technology came without its fair share of bugs, and the Athena Initiative was no exception.

Also unfortunately, bug-testing was taking much longer than Rick had hoped. The main software had been finished _six_ _months ago_ , yet every run ended with some catastrophic error that required another week of fixes, only for the fixes to cause more bugs, and the cycle went on.

At the very least, the alien had a backup plan in case the Initiative needed to be launched early, though he hoped that he'd never have to use it if only for the fact that it had almost nothing to do with the VR tech he had so painstakingly worked on.

"Snakemaker…"

"Pen," Rick replied, paying no mind to the Gardevoir who had just suddenly materialized behind him. "What is it?"

"Well, we're in a teensy bit of a pickle right now and long story short we need to go to Plan B..."

Shocked by the rather casual revelation, Rick scrambled to get his bearings to form a reply. "W-What the fuck, Pen? Can't you send someone else to deal with it?"

Pen let out a sarcastic chuckled tinged with annoyed intimidation. "And I thought you were in charge with logistics, SM." A flick of a pink-tinted wrist at the wall of screens transformed their display from mountains of code to a crude roster of the Guild. Rick knew otherwise than to question why said roster was chosen from the members' worst possible pictures

"For starters, Team Amore," pointing to an unflattering photo of a Samurott and and a Leavanny caught in bed at an inopportune time, "is on maternity leave."

A thumb jab at a Cacturne and a Buneary failing at juggling. "They're at the scene but stuck in a Monster House."

A Beedrill and a Darkrai wearing silly costumes. "HR's doin' some hokey Voice of Life stuff over at Mist, and you know HR and GR are a package deal."

A happy, normal photo of a Gallade, Dewott, and Gurdurr, except the Gurdurr was crossed out poorly with marker. "Team EXO… that one's on me. They're doing recon in the Pelago. Recon being a wild goose chase to separate WS and MW."

Rick absorbed what Pen had just said with a pregnant silence. "Honestly, I thought we had more field agents in the Guild."

"Well, normally we're just that good, Snakemaker, that we don't get blindsided by crap like this."

Glitch piped up from across the room. "Rick, I'm falling through the world again…"

 _Son of a bitch._

Sighing in resignation, Rick opened a drawer on a desk, removing a bottle of tablets marked "X Sp. Atk" and a pair of dark sunglasses. Compared to the amount of labor and and automation put into Plan A, the alternative was rather… minimal. Which was why it was a back-up

"Plan B? After all this work w-we're going with-with Plan B?"

"I'm afraid so, Snakemaker. I'll see you both on the upper decks," replied Pen. And with that, she was gone in a burst of glitter, leaving her associate with naught but a bitter taste in his mouth and an imperative to get Plan B into action.

"Rick, I'm still falling…"

... After getting Glitch out of the tangle of sensors. This was definitely not Rick's kind of day.

* * *

 **~* Character Logs *~**

 **Pen/Madame Director** \- A Gardevoir of strange, exotic tastes and abilities, and the beleaguered director of the Crossroads Guild.

 **Rick/Snakemaker** \- A brilliant, if alcoholic Beheeyem scientist and inventor of the Athena Initiative. Shared second-in-command to Pen

 **Glitch/Moonwalker** \- Hapless Zorua assistant/protege to both Rick and Pen. He's important. Somehow.

 **Abernathy/High Noon** \- Yes, THAT Abernathy. Lead Scout of the Crossroads Guild, this Cacturne knows her way around a projectile.

 **MK** \- Abernathy's Buneary partner/apprentice.

 **To all reviewers: Thank you!**


End file.
